Tray attachment for a patient&#39;s bed



June 5, 1962 1.. STAIGER TRAY ATTACHMENT FOR A PATIENTS BED Filed Nov. 7, 1960 INVENTOR.

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ATTORNEY-5 United States Patent 3,037,214 TRAY ATTACHMENT FOR A PATIENTS BED Leo Staiger, Box 350, Merced, Calif. Filed Nov. 7, 1960, Ser. No. 67,655 3 Claims. (Cl. -92) The present invention relates to improvements in a tray attachment for a patients bed. It consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed.

It is proposed in this invention to provide a tray attachment for a patients bed, which may be readily secured to the side rails of the bed, and which will provide adequate shelving space for supporting various articles within convenient reach of the patient.

Moreover, it is proposed to provide a tray attachment for a patients bed which is so constructed that various containers, such as urinals and water bottles, may be placed thereon and held against accidental displacement.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tray attachment for a patients bed, which is simple in construction, durable and eflicient for the purpose intended, and attractive in appearance.

Other ob ects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds. The novel features of the invention will be set forth in the appended claims.

Drawings For a better understanding of the invention, reference should be had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of my tray attachment for a patients bed;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is an end elevational view, as seen from the vertical plane IIIIII of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view taken along the irregular line IV-IV of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along the vertical plane VV of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 6 is an end elevational view of a modified form of a tray attachment for a patients bed.

While I have shown only the preferred forms of the invention, it should be understood that various changes, or modifications, may be made within the scope of the annexed claims without departing from the spirit thereof.

Detailed Description Referring -to the drawing, there has been provided a tray attachment designated generally at A, which is adapted to be positioned alongside a patients bed, with the tray attachment being supported on top and bottom side rails 10 and 11, respectively, of the bed. Thus the tray attachment A will be within convenient reach of the patient occupying the bed.

In its structural features, the tray attachment A provides upper and lower shelves 12 and 13, respectively, which are arranged in spaced and substantially parallel relation with one another. Moreover, a rear wall 14 may be formed integrally with the upper and lower shelves; and, also, a down-turned flange 15 may be fashioned on the front portion of the lower shelf 13.

For the purpose of mounting the tray attachment A on the patients bed, a pair of spaced-apart and substantially upright brackets 16 are secured to a front lateral side of each shelf, these brackets being disposed adjacent to opposite ends of the shelves 12 and 13'. It will be noted that rivets 17, or other suitable fastening means, secure horizontal lugs 18 at the tops of the brackets 16 to the underneath surface of the upper shelf 12 (see FIGURES l and 35). The brackets 16 are secured to ice the down-turned flange 15 of the lower shelf 13 by rivets 19, or other suitable fastening means.

As to the brackets 16, they have suflicient height to bridge across and abut the spaced top and bottom rails 10 and 11, respectively. Each bracket 16 has a concaved saddle 2'0 fashioned therein (see FIGURES 3 and 5), and these saddles are positioned to embrace one side of the top rail 10 of the patients bed. The upper shelf 12 is provided with an extension 21 thereon, which overlies and extends beyond the upper sections of the brackets 16 for projecting over and engaging with the opposite side of the top rail 10. This extension is formed with a depending flange 22 spaced laterally from the upper sections of the brackets 16 to define clamps B for removably engaging with the top rail 10, thereby supporting the shelves 12 -13. The extension 21 and its depending flange 22 have substantially the same longitudinal length -as the upper shelf 12 so as to provide a firm support for the shelves 12--13, when mounted on the rails 10-11 of the patients bed.

Particular attention is directed to the fact that the lateral extension 21 projects directly from the shelf 12 and is confined therebelow so as to leave the top surface of the shelf 12 unobstructed by the extension 21 and its depending flange 2 2. This arrangement will materially facilitate the cleaning of the top surface of the upper shelf.

It will be apparent from FIGURES 3 and 5 that the saddles 2.0 and the depending flange 22 embrace the opposite sides of the top rail 10 to thereby resist accidental upward movement of the tray attachment A relative to the bed rails 101.1. This is an important structural feature. Moreover, the lateral extension 21. and its depending flange 22 are resilient, whereby the flange 22 may be snapped over the top rail 10 and the shelves 12-13 and the brackets 16 may be slid lengthwise along the bed rails 101 1 so as to bring the shelves in desired position relative to the patient.

As clearly shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, openings C and D have been fashioned in the upper shelf 12, but I do not wish to be limited in the number of such openings that may be provided. The opening C has a depending marginal flange 23 extending circumferentially therearound, and this opening is shaped to receive a conventional urinal container E, the bottom of which will rest on the lower shelf 13 (see FIGURE 2). Of course, the shape of the opening C may be changed so as to accommodate other shapes of urinals.

With particular reference to FIGURES 1 and 2, it will be observed that the opening D is provided with a depending marginal fiange 24 that extends circumferentially therearound. A stirrup F defines a pair of spaced legs 25 having their upper ends secured by rivets 26, or other suitable fastening means, to the depending flange 24. The stirrup F has a horizontal reach 27 disposed below the upper shelf 12 but spaced above the lower shelf 13. This reach is disposed to support a container G, for example a water bottle, which may be inserted into the opening D. The stirrup F is arranged to permit articles to be placed on the lower shelf 13 under the inserted container G.

As illustrated in FIGURES l to 4, inclusive, a pair of end plates H are provided, one being arranged at each end of the upper and lower shelves 12 and 13, respectively. Each end plate H has suflicient area to extend from the adjacent bracket 16 to the rear wall 14, and from the upper shelf 12 to the lower shelf 13, thereby precluding displacement of articles over the ends of the lower shelf. The end plates H are notched to conform to the shape of the saddles 20.

Each end plate H has an upper flange 28 that is secured to the underneath surface of the upper shelf 12 by the rivets 17 (or other suitable fastening means), previously mentioned. Likewise, each end plate H has a lower flange 29 which is anchored to the underneath surface of the lower shelf 13 by rivets 30, or other suitable fastening means (see FIGURES 2 and 3). Moreover, each end plate H has a vertical flange 31 that is secured to the interior surface of the rear wall 14 by rivets 32, or other suitable fastening means (see FIGURE 3).

It will be noted that the upper shelf 12 is fashioned with a rear upstanding flange 33. This flange extends longitudinally of the upper shelf, and may be fashioned by folding the material between the upper shelf 12 and the rear wall 14 (see FIGURE 5). The flange 33 is disposed on the lateral side of the upper shelf 12 that is arranged away from the bed rails 11. In a like manner, each end plate H has an upstanding flange 34 that projects above the upper shelf 12. The flanges 33 and 34 coact to provide a rim around one side and both ends of the upper shelf 12 so as to prevent articles from being brushed or knocked off the upper shelf. The other lateral side of the upper shelf 12, that is above the extension 21, is left open so that the patient may reach articles on this shelf with facility and ease.

The tray attachment A may be made from any suitable material, such as stainless steel, aluminum, plastic, or the like. When made of metal, a sheet of material may be shaped by following conventional shop practices to provide the upper shelf 12 with its extension 21 and depending flange 22, the upstanding rear flange 33, the rear wall 14, the bottom shelf 13 and its down-turned flange 15, all in a unitary structure. The brackets 16 and end plates H may be fabricated, and then secured to the shelves in the manner previously described. Of course, the entire tray attachment may be made in any desired color.

In connection with the modified form shown in FIG- URE 6, the brackets 16 are formed in rectangular saddles 20', while the extension 21 of the top shelf 12 has a straight flange 22' projecting vertically therefrom in a downward direction. The saddles 20 and the flange 22' are designed to embrace a square or rectangular top rail 10, while the lower ends of the brackets 16' rest against the square or rectangular bottom rail 11 of the patients bed. The modified end plates H are notched to conform to the shape of the saddles 20'. Otherwise, the tray attachment A shown in FIGURE 6 is identical with the tray attachment A previously described; accordingly, like reference characters have been applied to corresponding parts of the two embodiments.

I claim:

1. In a tray attachment for a patients bed, .upper and lower shelves arranged in spaced and substantially parallel relation with one another, a rear wall and end walls interposed between and connected to said shelves to enclose said lower shelf at the ends and rear thereof, said lower shelf having a downwardly extending flange formed integrally with the forward edge portion thereof; a pair of spaced-apart and substantially upright brackets extending between said shelves and being rigidly secured to said flange and arranged to overlie said end walls, said brackets having suflicient height to bridge across and abut spaced-apart top and bottom rails of a patients bed, said brackets and end walls defining an elongated opening for the lower shelf, flanges formed integrally with the forward and rear edges of said upper shelf and being of a length comparable to the length of said shelf, said rear flange being connected to said rear and end walls to define an upstanding rim enclosing the ends and rear edge of said upper shelf, said forward flange constituting a lateral extension which overlies and extends beyond the upper ends of said brackets, said lateral extension being formed with a depending flange spaced laterally from the upper ends of the brackets and defining therewith clamps for removably engaging the top rail of the patients bed to thereby support the shelves.

2. The tray attachment for a patients bed, as set forth in claim 1; and in which the lateral extension and its depending flange are resilient, whereby the depending flange may be snapped over the top rail, and the shelves and brackets may be slid lengthwise along the bed rails so as to bring the shelves into a desired position.

3. The tray attachment for a patients bed, as set forth in claim 1; and in which the upper shelf is fashioned with an opening into which a container may be inserted; and a stirrup secured to the upper shelf; the stirrup having a horizontal reach disposed below the upper shelf but spaced above the lower shelf; this reach being disposed to support the inserted container from below, whereby articles may be placed on the lower shelf under the inserted container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,226,231 Mack May 15, 1917 1,267,046 Beaird May 21, 1918 2,305,965 Henkel et a1. Dec. 22, 1942 2,763,378 Black Sept. 18, 1956 2,839,765 Cogley June 24, 1958 2,909,175 Kinnear Oct. 20, 1959 2,932,544 Lambert Apr. 12, 1960 

